The Five Planetary Realms!

Demonic notes blasted into his ears!

In a daze, Yang Yu seemed to see an ancient master blacksmith sweating profusely as he forged divine weapons!

Each hammer blow seemed to strike directly at his heart and soul!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

After only a few notes, Yang Yu's entire body shook violently!

"It hurts! It hurts so much!" In a single instant, unimaginable pain engulfed him completely!

I want to give up!

I can't!

Yang Yu's eyes were bloodshot. Blood seeped from all seven openings in his face!

The terrifying demonic music continued to rage through his mental sea like a storm!

Under its relentless, devastating barrage, the fate soul power within Yang Yu even began to grow slowly!

He gritted his teeth and endured.

At least he had passed the fate soul strength requirement in the first stage of the Hundredfold Soul-Tempering Score's test. Otherwise, the first round of notes would have blasted him straight out of his mental world, leaving him unable to listen to or practice any of the score's later movements.

With his fate soul strength deemed sufficient, all that remained to be tested was Yang Yu's endurance.

As long as he could endure this bone-corroding, soul-scorching pain, he would be able to practice the Hundredfold Soul-Tempering Score...

"Hah... hah..."

"Hah..." Yang Yu panted violently, his eyes tightly shut. Although the weather was still cool, he was drenched in sweat. The white shirt he wore had turned black with grime, and its filthy fabric was soaked through and clung tightly to his body.

As time passed, the study outside grew bright.

Sunlight streamed through the window. Without realizing it, Yang Yu had spent half the night standing in the study.

And now, within his mental world, the Hundred-Forging Soul Tempering Melody was drawing to a close.

At last, the final note sounded.

Thud!

Yang Yu's entire body went limp. His nerves, stretched to their absolute limit, relaxed in an instant, and he collapsed onto the floor, his arms and legs splayed wide.

"I made it through."

"I did it!"

"Ha... hahahahaha..." Yang Yu looked utterly exhausted, yet he laughed, a trace of madness creeping onto his face!

Over the past half a night, he had endured untold agony.

At last, he had survived the Hundredfold Soul-Tempering Score's first test.

His fate soul power had now increased noticeably, by at least thirty percent!

That thirty-percent increase meant Yang Yu could control at least one more Giant Mantis Beast!

One additional Giant Mantis Beast would increase Yang Yu's strength by at least a quarter!

Cultivation grew harder as one progressed. The gains from the first session were especially pronounced... and it was also the greatest test of one's resolve!

Yang Yu had survived the Hundredfold Soul-Tempering Score's first test. He might experience the same pain in future sessions, but with his mind prepared, it would never again be as unbearable as it had been today.

At the same time, however, the effects of cultivation would grow weaker and more gradual.

His gains would no longer be as great as they had been this time.

Yang Yu lay on the floor, his violently heaving chest finally beginning to settle. Meanwhile, he quickly sorted through what he had learned from his first session practicing the Hundredfold Soul-Tempering Score.

Countless thoughts filled his mind, and his body was utterly exhausted. Yet with his fate soul greatly strengthened, he remained mentally brimming with energy!

By the time the lingering pain in Yang Yu's body had faded completely, he had also finished organizing his insights from this session.

"It was too painful."

"No wonder that even before the Insectoid Civilization fell into ruin, a civilization so magnificent could scarcely produce a single person among its billions of people capable of practicing this Hundredfold Soul-Tempering Score."

"The Hundredfold Soul-Tempering Score primarily hammers and compresses the fate soul to improve its quality. Once its quality improves, absorbing the dark force that exists everywhere in the void of the universe can gradually strengthen the practitioner's fate soul. It's like an ordinary blacksmith forging divine weapons by repeatedly hammering ordinary iron!"

"It's a process of constantly removing impurities and repeatedly folding and hammering the material to strengthen it."

"The same applies to the fate soul!"

Yang Yu marveled.

Ordinary cultivation of physical strength involved absorbing cosmic force. Cultivating the fate soul, however, was the opposite: it required absorbing dark force, the counterpart to ordinary cosmic force!

Whether cosmic force or dark force, both were incredibly violent when drawn into the body!

Violent, destructive power that could annihilate everything!

Through repeated destruction, regeneration, and healing, the fate soul and body grew ever stronger!

"That's precisely why practicing the Hundredfold Soul-Tempering Score is so painful. Although I'm only listening to music, the demonic notes in the score work together with the dark force in the void of the universe to hammer the intangible fate soul, just like forging a divine weapon! This process of constantly tearing apart and hammering the spirit and soul is naturally agonizing beyond belief!"

"The score has five movements, each more effective at hammering the fate soul than the last!"

"The pain one has to endure during cultivation also skyrockets exponentially!"

"That's why practicing the Hundredfold Soul-Tempering Score requires not only sufficient fate soul strength, but also a body strong enough to withstand such utterly terrifying pain!"

Yang Yu took a deep breath. "With my current physical strength, I can only travel, survive, and fight within a planet! According to the universe's standard realm classifications, I should belong to the planetary realm, which is further divided into five realms."

The five planetary realms.

They were divided into two major categories of strength: Postnatal lifeforms and innate beings!

Among postnatal lifeforms, there were three major realms: Human tier, earth rank, and Heaven Tier!

Breaking through Heaven Tier meant becoming an innate being!

Innate beings were further divided into two realms: Burrowing level and skyflying level!

"The power inheritance on the first page of the Insect Codex poured cosmic force directly into my body. My current physical strength should be at the acquired human rank."

"The five realms within the planetary realm roughly correspond to the five movements of the Hundredfold Soul-Tempering Score."

"I haven't even finished cultivating the first movement of the Hundredfold Soul-Tempering Score yet. With my current acquired human rank physique, I can only withstand the ravaging torment the first movement inflicts on my body!"

"Practicing the Hundredfold Soul-Tempering Score requires repeatedly circulating the score's power to hammer the fate soul! Completing the first movement requires forty-one repetitions! Each is more painful than the last. After forty-one repetitions, my fate soul power will grow to the limit of what the first movement can temper. At that point, my fate soul power will fully reach the peak of the acquired human rank, allowing me to control twenty Giant Mantis Beasts at once and form a squad of these vicious insects!"

"Once I reach that point, if I want to practice the second movement, I'll have to unlock the second page of the Insect Codex and let my body receive another infusion of cosmic force to strengthen it, advancing to the postnatal earth rank!"

PS: Thanks to "Night Owl's Lone Cry" for the tip! Also, please bookmark, vote, and click!